Just finished a project with FCPX and Motion 5

I've been reading this forum for quite some time, but I wanted to have sufficient experience with the software before I made any comments on it. I have just finished my first project using a combination of Motion 5 and Final Cut Pro X, and, although my comments may be redundant, I thought that another user experience may be of some use to others.

A little bit of my background: I have been working professionally as a video editor for the past 13 years, and have experience with virtually every non-linear editing system out there. I edit everything from news stories, to corporate video, to documentaries and motion graphics. I started working with Final Cut in 2002, and have used each version on a daily basis since that time.

Overall, I like the updated interface. It took a little while to wrap my head around the new terminology, but I found it very easy to jump in and edit once I knew where the tools were. I didn't find the magnetic timeline to be a problem in any way, and simply used the placement tool when I wanted to park clips at the end of my project. Simply put, the software is fast, and despite the problems and work-arounds I was forced to use, I really like it.

As much as I feel that Apple is right in taking Final Cut in a new direction, I agree with many on this site that this software is in no way ready for deployment in a collaborative, professional setting. I really hate the fact that I can't save my work, and have to depend on the software to do it for me. I got around the inability to save different versions of an event by making duplicates of my project when I got to a point where I wanted to experiment, but I'd rather just be able to save alternate versions of the file itself.

I also can't fathom why Apple decided to do away with something as simple as motion blur. I ran into a situation where I had to replace a word in an After Effects animation, and since the animation was done on another machine and I did not have access to the software or project file, I decided to fix it in Final Cut. All I needed to do was apply a motion blur to the text and manipulate it in Z space, and was stunned to discover I could do neither of these things. Luckily I found a free plugin from Ripple Training that solved the Z space issue, but I can't understand why Apple decided not to ship this functionality with the software. I considered trying to use Motion to fix the text, but you can't selectively place motion blur on individual layers. It must be applied to the entire project (as far as I understand. I could be wrong about this). Not only that, but if I alter the clip externally and re-save it, even if I retain the same file name, Final Cut loses it's connection to the file, and it can't be reconnected.

Even with all of the hassles of finding work-arounds for things that were once simple affairs, the speed with which the software handled my media still made the job faster than if I had done it in FCP7. I am taking a gamble that Apple will stay true to their word and continue to update this software, and I might very well be wrong, but I feel that it is a gamble worth taking. Whether we like it or not, the industry is increasingly trending toward the "one man band" content creator, and FCP X reflects this trend. Right now, I'm going to be using this software for side projects, and not for my "day job". For these smaller projects, I am the editor, graphics designer and sound editor. My experience with both Motion 5 and FCP X proves that each can handle these tasks well.

The next test for the software will be a documentary I am currently in the process of writing. After this recent project, I am both excited and terrified at the prospect of completing a large project with this software, but I am looking forward to the challenge.

One thing I really liked about the FCP X/Motion 5 duo was the ability to publish parameters in Motion (color, font size, speed, etc.) and make them available in Final Cut X for tweaking. That has saved me A LOT of time when working on lower-thirds and other graphics.